PULL UP KING: Pull Up Counter

Can’t do one yet? That’s fine. From zero to 30 pull-ups: your phone counts every rep, your coach sets the numbers.

■ The dev is doing it too
I built this app, and when I started I couldn’t do a single pull-up. I’m training with it all the way to 30 and improving it as I go. Where I’m at right now is on Threads and YouTube: @simon.pullups.

■ Two things you need first
1. A pull-up bar
2. A stand or tripod for your phone — leaning it against a wall or shelf also works

The camera has to see you and the bar together. Holding the phone will not work. Stand it upright 2–3 m away so the bar, both arms and your upper body are all in frame. Brighter rooms count better.

■ The camera counts
Your phone reads your posture and counts a rep only when your chin clears the line. No wristband, no extra hardware. Detection runs on the device.

Reps you fought for and just missed are logged too. Nothing you pulled for shows up as zero.

■ The app decides your next set
An 83-level program rebuilt from a pull-up plan that’s been in use for over 40 years. Start band-assisted, reach 30 unassisted, then keep going to 50.
Where it comes from: the Recon Ron pull-up plan, on record since 1981. The set structure follows that plan.

From level 18, after three sessions that meet the plan, you take a level test: one all-out first set. Beat the next level’s first set by 2 or more and you move up. Fall short and you keep your level — try again next time. Before that, in the band and foundation stages, three sessions move you straight up.
A missed session doesn’t count. Keep missing at the same level and you redo it; keep missing after that and you step down one. That is a run-up, not a retreat.

One session a day. Muscle grows while you rest, not while you hang.

■ See your own form
Every set is recorded automatically. Whether you kipped or locked out at the bottom is something video tells you, not a number.

Build a clip with your reps, time and tempo burned in, and send it to a friend.

■ Coached rest, too
Rest scales with your level, and the last 10 seconds are counted out loud — in English, Korean, Japanese, Chinese or German.

■ Your history follows your account
A calendar shows what you did on any day. Level and records live on your account, so switching phones — even Android to iPhone — keeps everything.

■ Subscription
Until your first level-up (up to 6 workouts), no subscription is needed — the starting level test and your first level's sessions. After that, sessions require a subscription. History, stats and settings are free to browse.

Pull-ups break your rhythm when you have to count them. Hand that job over and stay on the bar.